You can now listen to posts on HIVE through PEAKD: The Text-To-Speech Technology is live

So, I was about to login into my HIVE account through the PEAKD interface and as usual, the prompt to update my app popped up. As usual, that is always an instruction I do not fail to heed. Immediately, I clicked the reload button and in no time, my app was updated. Amazingly, something interesting caught my attention the - Text-to-speech, TTS option.

This is a kind of technology that converts written text into spoken words, enabling a computer or machine to produce human-like speech. Though not new but definitely the first of its kind on the hive blockchain. Really I cannot say much about the technology behind this innovation, but the little I understand is that "The technology works by using algorithms to convert text into a representation of speech sounds and then using pre-recorded speech samples to synthesize the speech".

It's quite amazing how improvements are always made to various interfaces, and so far, I think the PeakD interface stands out when it comes to simplicity, preference by users, and innovations. However, this does not undermine the efforts of other interfaces, Just my opinion.

Well, why this feature is very important to me, is the fact that I no longer have to keep my eyes glued to my laptop screen all the time to read people's posts. Usually, I am weary of constantly exposing my eyes to blue light coming from screens, hence the reason I always change my background screen to dark mode. However, this is still not enough.

I don't want to make this post lengthy, so I will just cut to the chase. Blue light is a type of high-energy visible (HEV) light that is emitted from digital screens, such as those of computers, smartphones, and televisions and when you are exposed to them for a long time, it sure will affect your eyes at the long run. The commonly known effects are eyes strain and disruption of your sleeping pattern.

Younger and older human eyes are more susceptible to the potential hazards posed by blue light. Optometrists and Ophthalmologists recommend increased levels of protection against toxic blue light emissions for younger children and teenagers and also for older adults over age 65

I want to be believe you are not surprised that I am talking obviously from a medical perspective. Yeah, that was the first thing that came to mind. Sometimes even while typing my articles, I simply use the speech-to-text option offered by google on my phone and later make necessary corrections and also add punctuations where need be. All these are just efforts I personally make to reduce contact with screen lights.

A lot has been said about blue light emission from screens and personally, it is worrisome for people that have no option but to look at the screen daily. Thank goodness for the invention of blue light filter eye glasses. However, not everyone is comfortable wearing glasses, persons like me.

For me, this feature that has been added just made my exposure to the screen less and I don't have to keep my eyes glued all the time to the screen. Come to think of it, this feature is even more valuable to those that may have any form of visual impairment or difficulty reading through a screen as well as multitaskers like me.

I guess now, PEAKD has more to brag about. This is indeed a welcome development and a very innovative idea that has been successfully implemented.

I can even decide to do other things while listening to any post I find interesting. I encourage you to update your PEAKD to the latest version if you have not. You will only be able to access this feature on the latest version. I believe there is still room for improvement. I will basically share just few things I observed, which I believe, improving on them will make the TTS function on PEAKD far much better.

I noticed that the TTS is unable to accurately differentiate headings within a post from the body of the paragraph. It reads both the heading and the paragraph all together as words. I decided to edit one of my old post and add a full stop to the heading and the difference was clear. So I think this is an area that can be worked on. Similarly, it does this also for bullet points. So it means, you could get confused at this point. Being unable to differentiate the in-text heading and its first paragraph will result to mumbo-jumbling of words and this can make things a bit difficult for the listener.

The above is just the major experience I had with the TTS. Secondly, this will just be a suggestion and if there is a possibility of adding the function, it will be great. I am suggesting making it possible to adjust the read speed. For me, I felt like increasing the play back time speed, but I discovered it was not possible. I preferred it to read the post a little bit faster. Personally my thought though.

So those are my experience with the new function. Aside the above, I cannot think of any other thing. The function, no doubt is a welcomed one and amazing. So if you are a multitasker like me and you want to reduce exposure to screen light without having to either use a blue light emission filter eyes glass, you might want to jump on this one right away.

Rhodopsin and its role in acuity

Remember, every organ is as important as the others. Please don't wait until things go bad before you make necessary adjustment. I am a big fan of carrots because they are very good source of Beta carotene which is later converted to Vitamin-A by the body and this helps in visual acuity (your ability to see).

Vitamin A is needed by Rhodopsin (The protein in the eyes that enables you see at night). Did you know that it is Beta Carotene that gives carrot its orange colour? Basically plants that have yellow contain Beta-carotene. I guess you did not know that until now, but if you did, great! Alright, those are my closing words. See ya!

Listen to post with the new text to speech featureFor more information, you can access the post by @peakd here -

References
_{A Guide To How Text-To-Speech Works
Listen to post with the new text to speech feature
Text-to-Speech Basics: What Is TTS and Who Uses It?
Fact or Fiction?: Carrots Improve Your Vision
It’s True – Carrots (and Other Vegetables) Can Help You See in the Dark}